Plays are a collaborative art. It takes many artists working together to create a theatrical production. Consider our own examples of the musical Annie or The Crucible. The building blocks of drama (which means conflict, by the way) are:
A PREMISE: a very short, one-sentence description of your idea: this play is about...
examples: Annie is about a little positive orphan girl who finds a caring family. The Crucible is about the people involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Wait Until Dark is about a blind woman threatened by thieves.
A SITUATION: any action that depends on a decision. Example: a jumper is on a ledge of a roof and is about to jump ("Playwriting 101"), or: A man approaches a woman who is reading in a cafe to strike up a conversation ("Sure Thing"), etc.
A COMPLICATION: a "but...", a "whoops", or an "Uh, oh!" Example: a jumper is on the ledge of a roof and is about to jump BUT a good samaritan interrupts her. Or: A man approaches a woman reading in a cafe for a date but WHOOPS, he says the wrong thing and turns her off.
During 7th period:
During 8th period:
Continue writing your plays.
HOMEWORK: None.
A PREMISE: a very short, one-sentence description of your idea: this play is about...
examples: Annie is about a little positive orphan girl who finds a caring family. The Crucible is about the people involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Wait Until Dark is about a blind woman threatened by thieves.
A SITUATION: any action that depends on a decision. Example: a jumper is on a ledge of a roof and is about to jump ("Playwriting 101"), or: A man approaches a woman who is reading in a cafe to strike up a conversation ("Sure Thing"), etc.
A COMPLICATION: a "but...", a "whoops", or an "Uh, oh!" Example: a jumper is on the ledge of a roof and is about to jump BUT a good samaritan interrupts her. Or: A man approaches a woman reading in a cafe for a date but WHOOPS, he says the wrong thing and turns her off.
During 7th period:
- Please read the plays "Playwriting 101" by Rich Orloff and "The Role of Della" by John Wooten out loud in your groups. Members of the group should play one role.
- For each play, please identify (as a group) the PREMISE, the SITUATION, and the COMPLICATIONs in the play.
- When you have completed that task, you may either:
- A:
- Together in your group, decide on a play you will write together. Write possible premises, then vote for the premise you would like to use.
- Together come up with a list of possible characters and a setting.
- Together write a situation and possible complications.
- Then working together in GOOGLE DOCS invite the members of your group to SHARE your document. Each writer will play a "part" by taking on the role of one character in the play (similar to the exercise you did last class, but with more people).
- Work together to write a play that has a clear premise, situation, and at least as many complications as there are members in your group. Complications create rising action and the climax of a play.
- B:
- Continue reading the short plays "Bedtime", "Chocolate", "Your Mother's Butt" or "We Cannot Know the Mind of God" as models for your plays.
- After reading these plays and recording the premise, situation, and complications (turn in for extra credit), please work on the assignment as directed in option A, above. You may decide to shorten your group to 1, 2, 3, or 4 writers if you'd like.
During 8th period:
Continue writing your plays.
HOMEWORK: None.
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